#30

Work for what you want or go without. 

Hello. So last night I was on the phone with my cousin Elle, and if you know me you have heard me talk about her.  Even though she is younger than me she is constantly teaching me things.  She loves to write (and is freaking amazing at it- Check out her blog SoSaysElle!!) as do I, so in the middle of our conversation I said hold on a second I have to write something I want to share on my blog tomorrow. She, more than anyone, understands this since she loves to write, also. If you love to write you know when you get an idea you better write it down because ideas tend to leave your mind a lot quicker than they come sometimes. With all that being said, I wanted to be super authentic and share with y’all something that I believe is very important for everyone to know.  

 I cannot speak for others who are putting their life out there and sharing their journeys, but I can speak for myself so take this with a grain of salt.  ----Every fitness person doesn’t have it perfect and together like it may seem. Read that again. I never want to portray that this journey is flawless, that I eat 100% organic veggies and healthy things all the time, or that every single workout I have is 110% all out. I mess up a lot more frequently than you all probably think. I don’t want you all to think that I love working out every single day and that it is all given to me. No. Fitness and nutrition are passions of mine just like your jobs are for you. But there are so many days it is something that I do not want to do. So next time you think you don’t have it together, remember that social media and the fitness world is a highlight reel and is not always as good as it seems. With that being said there is a ton that goes on behind the scenes that is never seen. A whole lot of grind, dedication, and get-up-and-go when you do not want to. People often believe that fitness goals are achieved in a week, even a month, or a year. And while some goals are more short term, what you see most of the time are years of commitment, dedication, and grind when there is nothing left to give. So, give yourself a break and remind yourself what I tell myself EVERY DAY, “Anything worth having is worth working for.”  These long-term goals that are hard to keep holding onto and some days may feel as if they are nowhere near reach, are worth grabbing onto tighter.  Let me be a word of encouragement to you today to keep holding on and the days you feel like letting go is when you need to hold on tighter. Lack of motivation and our brain can be pretty convincing that ‘you are not capable’ or ‘have made it far enough so now just be satisfied.’  Do not be normal and fall into the good enough trap.  Never be satisfied complacent on where you are. The Lord would not place a goal in your heart that you could not achieve.  Everything is possible but nothing is being handed out for free. Work for what you want or go without. 

#29

It’s only unthinkable if you don’t think it. 

You know all those dreams floating around in your head that you believe are unthinkable and unachievable for you. That goal weight you want to achieve, that book you want to write, those lives you want to impact, or that job you’ve always wanted are just a few that will never scrape the surface of dreams. You want these things and you dream about them, but you think that you are incapable and that they will never become a reality for yourself.  Let me let you in on a little secret today.  They are only unthinkable if you do not think about them.  Simple as that.  The definition of unthinkable is “too unlikely or undesirable to be considered a possibility.”  There is a possibility and when you begin to realize this the ‘unlikely’ will become likely and the ‘impossible’ will become possible. You have so much potential and it is never too late.  So-what you have established a career and have a family.  So-what you already graduated college.  So-what…? Who put a cap on when you have to stop going after what you want because of your age? It is never too late to go get what you want. It may be scary, and you may question yourself along the way, but I believe in you and I want you to believe in yourself.     ---------- Your success is being hindered by your self-talk and inability to get out of your own head. Don’t hold yourself back anymore. Go after what you want. 

#28

Bullseye

Before you ever rise in the morning, I am sure that there is about 50 thoughts roaming in your head about the upcoming day and the mundane tasks that need to be accomplished.  Days can be very overwhelming, so do you have a plan as to how you are going to hit the bullseye each and every day?  Recently my dad told me that “don’t just wake up in the morning and just start flinging arrows-locate the bullseye first.” Well, Madeline, what do you mean by that? I mean wake up with purpose.  The morning is the most crucial part of the day for me because it sets the entire tone of my day.  If I hit snooze for 30 minutes, then it is going to seem as if I am flinging arrows because of the loss of 30 minutes toward some task that needed to be done for me to start on the right foot.  The same can apply the other way around.  Getting up on time, making your bed, spending some time with Jesus, and eating a good breakfast just narrows in my shot, and I am a lot more likely to hit the bullseye throughout the day because of the success that I have set myself up for.  Go to bed that 30 minutes early so you are not so tired in the morning; do things at night that will take stress off your plate in the morning; make your bed as soon as you get up. I keep including make your bed because it is one step in my life that I do not fail to do. If I do not make my bed in the morning, then I look at it as I have failed to complete my first task of the day. I feel so much neater and am a lot less likely to take a nap if my bed is made. (haha probably the real reason I do it because ya girl loves a nap ;)) 

Narrow your focus today so that you are not going through life wasting arrows. Shoot with purpose. Do each task like it is the most important thing on your plate at the moment.  Put pride behind your agenda and don’t just start flinging arrows to ‘accomplish’ those 50 things you woke up thinking about.  Truly give your best shot at each and every one of them.

#27

Faith is a Muscle

This past Sunday at church my pastor said something during his sermon that really stuck with me and so I wanted to share it with you all.  The entire sermon was on faith; which is something that I love to learn more about because it is an area of my life that I need the most growth in but also have seen the most transformation in throughout my life.  How does our faith grow each year or even each day? It can be so hard to see the good that is going to come out of what seems like a bad situation.  But our faith grows when we are put into situations where we have to exercise our faith.  As you all probably know fitness is a huge part of my life and I am so passionate about it.  So looking at faith as a muscle really hit home with me.  We do not try to get our physical bodies in shape by sitting on the couch watching TV.  So, what makes us believe that we are able to get our faith ‘in shape’ by living sedentary? Our God is a God of action and I don’t know about you, but I want to get right in there with Him in the action.  The next time you are going through a time where your faith is being exercised and you feel fatigued remember to look at your situation through the eyes of God and not the eyes of man.  I am always trying to improve the strength and stabilization of my physical muscles as I work out.  Looking at a situation through the eyes of God will allow us to see a glimpse of the strength and stability that is to be gained if you chose to trust in and lean on God during tough situations.  My pastor at church used this as an example and I really loved it.  In life, because of Christ's love for us, we can be 4^th and 99 to go and love the odds instead of sitting on the edge of our seats worrying. This is because Jesus is the QB of our life and his nail pierced hands do not miss. It may be within the last second of the game (Auburn plug haha… War Eagle) before you realize it, but up until the hail mary pass is caught, our faith muscles will be tested and strengthened until we cross the goal line.